A viral post that claims pop star Justin Bieber changed his race to African American in a Canadian court has unsurprisingly turned out to be false.

"JUSTIN BIEBER LEGALLY CHANGES 'RACE' TO AFRICAN AMERICAN…" ran the title of the hoax report, published on Cream BMP Daily.

The false report stated: "I'm the richest black man under twenty one and I got all this money, because my people deserve it' said Justin after stepping out of a Canadian courtroom early Tuesday morning.

"I was just tired of all the 'I'm acting black comments'. Now I'm not acting black, because legally I am black.

"Its like being gay. You don't choose to be gay you're born gay. I was born black."

The report also stated that Justin Bieber "plans to join the United Negro College Fund board to become one of the largest donors toward the education of African American men and women".

A number of Facebook and Twitter users believed the story and shared it thousands of times.

Cream BMP has a disclaimer on its website, saying it publishes "satire."